Letters

Thanks to Ben Smith for the article about Al Gore [“Gore Is Bigger Than Ever!”, Jan. 30].

I had the pleasure of hearing him at the D.A.R. Hall in Washington, D.C., on Martin Luther King Day, talking about the Constitutional crisis in the communications monitoring by the government. I and everyone else there were enthused by his reasoning.

Nick Radonic

Derwood, Md.

To the Editor:

Dream on, Democrats. Kerry or Gore will never be elected President. If that’s all you have to counter Hillary—good luck.

Kay Campbell

San Diego

Hip to Be Square

To the Editor:

Though I don’t necessarily agree with its conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed Ron Rosenbaum’s article “Day I Was Stopped From C.I.A. Approach Now Appears Karmic” in the Jan. 30 edition of The Observer. Mr. Rosenbaum’s story reminded me of my own brush with C.I.A. perimeter security a few years back.

While a student at the University of Maryland, I enjoyed exploratory car trips around the D.C. metro area. On a certain drive in McLean heading west on Chain Bridge Road, I attempted to exit onto Georgetown Pike. Instead, I found myself driving toward an auxiliary C.I.A. entrance. A patrol car pulled up behind me and a guard, armed with a large machine gun, came out of a booth. They ran my plates and driver’s license and warned me never again to trespass on federal property. The whole experience was a bit unnerving.

If you haven’t already read it, I would definitely suggest Robert Littell’s The Company. He brings Angleton and Philby to life in wonderful ways.

Kevin Butnik

Manhattan

To the Editor:

Mr. Rosenbaum’s writing too hip in this piece to be as much fun as he usually is.

John Hancock

LaPorte, Ind.

NY1’s Odd Couple

To the Editor:

Thanks to Rebecca Dana for that story [“The Last Schlub on TV,” Jan. 16]. The metaphor of Roger Clark as Oscar Madison and Pat Kiernan as Felix Unger was inspired. I know Ms. Dana probably only wrote the story for an excuse to talk to Pat Kiernan, but she picked the right guy. I loved how their morning news item on subway iPod thefts degenerated into Roger Clark pulling a duct-taped portable CD player from his jacket pocket.

Ian Christe

Brooklyn

Reese Gives Goosebumps

To the Editor:

Praise is really due to Andrew Sarris for his wonderfully vivid and precise phrase, “spine-tingling feistiness,” describing Reese Witherspoon’s performance as June Carter in Walk the Line [“Reese’s Treats,” At the Movies, Jan. 9]. That is film criticism at its best, generous and entirely accurate.